Toro Rosso situation critical – Horner

As to whether Mateschitz would pull Red Bull out F1, Lauda added: “It’s hard for me to say, but the way Didi is acting at the moment he could consider it, he could”.

Red Bull, drivers’ and constructors’ champions for four years in a row from 2010, have fallen out with underperforming Renault and are casting around for a replacement engine provider with Ferrari their only real option given Honda’s woes.

Mika Hakkinen says he can understand why Red Bull is threatening to quit formula one over its engine situation.

After deciding that the breakdown in its relationship with Renault was terminal, and having cancelled its engine contracts for 2016, Red Bull had been pretty bullish that either Mercedes or Ferrari would step up to the plate.

It’s also made VW back out of its deal to purchase Red Bull Racing. “The important thing for us is to have a first-class engine”.

“Dietrich has made the situation very clear”.

F1: It was a day to forget for Daniel Ricciardo as he was forced to pit on lap one with a puncture.

Last week, the media was rife with reports that Volkswagen was in the final stages of purchasing Red Bull Racing, with the team using Ferrari power in 2016 and then becoming a VW works team following that.

Although the start of next year’s pre-season testing program is currently scheduled to start a month later than normal in March, teams would ideally by now have long known which engines they will run for 2016 so the architecture can be worked into their designs. “We are late, very late”.

However, as Ferrari hesitates on a potential deal over Red Bull’s desire to secure a factory-specification supply from the Italian firm, Dietrich Mateschitz has made it clear that a failure to land a few sort of parity will see the four-time champions exit the sport.

Asked to specify what kind of deal is on the table, Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene refused to go into details.

“No, there was a long discussion we had internally”, said Lauda. All business is like this.

“I’ll let him do what he needs to, and if it gets later into the year and still nothing has come then I’ll maybe make a little bit of noise”.